I'm a former environmental compliance specialist turned doggie momma and Networking and Security focused Engineer.
I enjoy working closely and collaborating across different teams in huge orgs, especially if we can save our company money by increasing our security posture!
"Only Christine could be so excited to learn about issues" - a coworker circa 2022
I graduated in 2018 at University of California, Santa Barbara in Environmental Science with a minor in Art. I changed my major about 6 times; I saw myself as a lawyer, park ranger, archaeologist, and an ecologist at different points in those 4 short years. Ultimately, my love for nature and curiosity about where different foods originate from (agricultural studies) motivated me to stick to my major.
After graduation, I worked as a California Compliance Specialist - Designated Operator. I conducted about 60 inspections a month. I didn't feel connected to my work; if I'm going to work for the next 40 years or so, I might as well do something I am interested in! I have always been fascinated by how the internet works and decided that I was still young enough (and motivated enough!) to nudge the rudder a little and start down a new path that could change my life.
Fast forward studying, a few projects, lots of trial and error, being scared to ssh, and everything in between, I've deployed a few web apps.
Do I wish I had done things differently and majored in Computer Science instead at UCSB? No, because I got a well-rounded education and thoroughly enjoyed my studies. I probably would not have written as much nor created art as much if I hadn't majored in what I did. I can confidently say that my biggest strength is that I love to learn. For what it's worth, the people that I met and the experiences that I had set me to be where I am today, and you reading about me in this moment!
So what do I do now? I've manually reviewed over 520 applications in our company to date and gave the green light/red light for whether apps can go to prod, move forward in a DNS request, secure an AWS account, implement a 3rd party software, and so much more. I talk a lot and I love details, so we can say I'm a budding technical writer (see below, where I'm published... but in plants!) I do so many different things at my current role and I'd love to share them all, but all good points come in sets of 3 so my third item I'll share is that in all these hundreds of other tasks I do, I help management understand various aspects of the applications' functions, processes, and user experience. Ok but let's chat because I'd love to share more.
My parents were born and raised in Guangdong, China. They immigrated to the United States in their 20s to achieve the American Dream. Before my brother and I were even born, my parents knew that they wanted to give their children the best possible shot at a good education and better quality of life. Being raised in San Francisco, I was blessed with being able to embrace my culture, its tradition, and holidays. I had a lot of friends from different backgrounds that both shared my culture or were interested in it. I think that was one of the beautiful things about my childhood; I got to honor my culture by spending time with my family and eating all the delicious foods! When people ask me about myself, besides the elevator pitch of what I've done career wise, I find myself talking about my family a lot. I think that's the biggest part of my identity - I have the most loving and supportive family and they are the best thing about me.
So what else have I done in my life besides computer magic?
At UCSB, I was a coxswain on the rowing team for 3 years. Too short to be a rower but with just enough competitiveness to lead the team, I steered and led my crew through exciting races with one thing on our mind; GOLD. From regional to national races, I loved traveling with my team and collecting hardwar- I mean core memories with some of my best friends.
5am practices, traveling for races, balancing my studies, photography gigs, and babysitting definitely taught me how to use my time efficiently. In retrospect I totally bit off more than I could chew, but I wanted to do it all! What I love about rowing is that in the boat, when I am keeping the shell on course, running the drills, and giving feedback to the rowers on how to be more in sync or fix their technique, nothing else matters. Rowing, by its nature, demands your full attention. It's a really amazing thing to be so in sync with the boat, your rowers, and the competition.
Although I didn't end up in an environmental career, I look back at my time volunteering and contributing to research with gratitude and self-fulfillment.
One of my greatest contribution to research is writing & starting a project where I take photos of an assortment of seeds classified by binomial nomenclature, research them, and then write articles to publish. Anyone with access to the internet will be able to view these entries. I spent over 400 hours on over 500 different seed entries over the course of 4 years. I was overjoyed to pass the baton when I graduated for other students to continue the mission to spread free knowledge!
So why did I dedicate my time to this? Our laboratory was fortunate to have a diverse range of seeds; other schools did not. In sharing these facts, more students around the world can have sources to aid their research.
Check out some of my published entries here!
I first started taking photos in high school when I joined the school's musical productions. I did the costumes and makeup because I dreamed of being a Hollywood makeup artist! Some things have changed since, but it was my best friend, Jennifer, that introduced the art to me. She took my photo and showed me the preview on her DSLR and I was blown away. She did the most amazing job capturing my personality and I liked the way I looked! As a high schooler, that feeling didn't come around often haha!
I was so happy after seeing the way she made me look through her camera that I wanted to do that for others too. I picked up photography because I also wanted to capture other people's moments and give them back photos that make them happy too.
Check out some of my photos here!